The Kremlin declared “satisfied” on Monday with the position of the US government to rule out the Ukraine membership in NATO. “We have heard from Washington, at various levels, that the membership of Ukraine in NATO is unthinkable. This satisfies us and coincides with our position,” said Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, to the press in Moscow.
“kyiv should not have any possibility of integration into the Military Alliance,” said Peskov, adding that Ukraine membership in NATO would be a threat to Russia’s national interests. “And this is one of the fundamental causes of the conflict (in Ukraine),” he added, he reported.
Peskov also responded to the comments of the US President, Donald Trump, who expressed his hope that Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement this week, stating that Moscow remains open to find a solution to the ongoing war, but refused to give a period for a possible resolution.
Trump said Sunday that he expects both countries to arrive at an agreement this week to end the conflict, since a high 30 -hour fire for Easter, which had begun on Saturday at 6 pm Moscow time (1500 GMT), expired without an extension. Both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating the high fire while it was in force.
There are no concrete negotiation plans with kyiv
The Kremlin has declared, however, this Tuesday that there are no concrete plans of negotiations with kyiv about the moratorium on attacks with drones and missiles to civil infrastructure, proposed by the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski.
“There are no concrete plans, but President (Vladimir) Putin has confirmed his willingness to discuss this issue,” said Russian presidency spokesman Dmitri Peskov, at his daily telephone press conference. He added that the moratorium on attacks on civil infrastructure must clearly specify when it can be considered military objective and when not.
“The President (Putin) explained precisely yesterday the complexity of this issue when answering a question of journalists. That is, when talking about the facilities of the civil infrastructure, it is necessary to clearly differentiate in what situations can be military objectives and in which, not,” said Peskov.
The Kremlin chief said Monday that he will study Moratorio’s proposal and that he is willing to discuss it in a bilateral format with Ukraine, but warned that Ukrainian forces usually occupy positions in civil facilities, so they become military objectives.
Asked about whether the prohibition decreed by Zelenski to negotiate with Putin could be an impediment to contacts between Moscow and kyiv, Peskov replied that if the Ukrainian part is willing to do so, it should “legally clear” the obstacles to it. “President Putin has repeatedly declared his willingness to solve the problems through negotiations,” said the spokesman.
